Probe Predators (14 page)

“Well, no…”

“He and Ian came up with a plan and he organized the military forces to make it happen while Ian handled the political issues in the Union.” Drey slowly nodded. Angela said, “You and Kragon are going to decide what needs to be done and organize our warriors to make it happen. I will handle the political end here in the Union.”

Drey blew out a breath and said, “Alright, I’ll do this but only after my team and I go and take on one of those Orange Ships.”

Kragon said, “You’re late again; I’m taking three of my ships and will hit the first one.”

“That’s crazy; you’re the commander of the Kilper forces. It’s stupid for you to run that risk.” Kragon stared at Drey in silence and after a moment Drey rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling, “Oh my aching backside.” Angela laughed and Drey looked at Kragon, “You weren’t really going to do that, were you?”

“Of course not; I’m not that stupid.”

Drey tried one last ploy, “I just thought we’d send our best pilots to take on the first one.”

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Drey tilted his head, “Are you implying my team doesn’t have the best pilots in the Union?”

“I have two that will take all four of your team out.”

Drey snickered, “If you have anyone that can do that, I’ll accept this position and do what’s necessary to make it work.”

“How about taking your team to San Rafael in three hours and give it a go.”

Drey smiled, “We’ll be there.”

Angela didn’t like this turn of events; Drey was the best pilot in the Union’s long history and doubted anyone could match his prowess flying a warship. Drey saw her concern and said, “You should worry; no one can beat me.”

• • •

Jinx and Rags looked at the four Needles on the opposite side of the assigned training space. Jinx smiled, “I hear that they are pretty good.”

“I’ve heard the same thing. How do you think they’ll come at us?”

“Drey will want to make the kills; he’ll be the aggressive one.”

“Perhaps we should make them divide their forces.”

“You break left and I’ll go right. Follow the Snake maneuver and I’ll be at the final curve.”

“What then?”

“I suspect if it works our Admiral will not be a happy camper. I’ll break vertical and then snap a dive.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Jinx smiled, “Get ready.”

• • •

Drey saw the two needles across the training space and said, “Dee and I will take on the human pilot. I understand he’s the hotshot of the two. Cole you and Andy will go after the Kilper.”

Cole shook his head, “You don’t think we should take out one of them first and then go after the other?”

“No, I suspect they will separate and attempt to get back together after several maneuvers. We’ll take out the human and then combine against the Kilper.”

Dee looked at Drey, “I’ll protect your rear.”

“Remember, jumping is allowed in this exercise, so don’t overrun them if they jump. Whip around and come at the jumper from the sides.”

Cole shook his head, “We know how to handle a jumper.”

The wall speaker said, “One minute to start the exercise.”

Drey smiled and looked forward to the coming event. It was the first opportunity to use his flying skills and he wasn’t going to allow these two pilots to prolong it. It was going to end quickly.

The tone sounded and the four needles jumped across the training area and fell in behind the two Needles, which had accelerated away from them and then went in opposite directions. Drey and Dee fell in behind Jinx as he made a hard right turn. The G forces were incredibly high but They managed to stay tucked in behind the speeding needle. Suddenly it made a hard left turn and Drey barely missed getting lock on his opponent. The ship suddenly straightened out and Drey smiled as he saw his blaster’s crosshairs move toward the fleeing ship. Suddenly his board went dead as the Kilper’s needle appeared to his left and got lock on both Dee’s and his ship. He was out of the exercise in less than ten seconds after it started. The Kilper went vertical as Cole and Andi came roaring in on him and went vertical with him. The Kilper suddenly dove and they turned to follow. The other needle was hanging in space where they made the turn and got lock on both of them. All four ships were out of the exercise in less than thirty seconds after it started.

Drey looked at his teammates and they saw his shock. Kragon appeared on Drey’s display sporting a large smile, “Would you like to try again?”

Cole interupted, “How is it possible for them to jump to the exact location of a high G turn at the exact moment the turn was completed?”

“They’ve been taking on the best pilots in our fleet and have been undefeated. I suspect they have practiced doing it more than anyone else. Do you want to try again?”

Drey shook his head, “It would be a waste of time. I suspect they know how to handle any of the high G maneuvers in our database.”

Kragon nodded, “They have an answer to all of them.”

Drey shook his head, “Congratulate them and tell them they’ve earned my respect.”

“I will; I’ll meet you back at Euclid in an hour.”

• • •

Two hours later, Drey sat in the throne room and glared at Kragon. “Where did you find those pilots?”

“Strictly by accident; however; they are the ones we need to send.”

Drey slowly nodded, “I’m forced to agree.” He looked at Angela, “You have your Commander.”

Kragon smiled, “We need your team placed in leadership roles with your fleets.”

Drey nodded, “We also need those two in leadership roles.”

“I agree; but first, an Orange Ship.”

Drey nodded, “Bring those two hotshots in and give them everything we’ve collected on the Orange Ships and let them tell us how they’d go about attacking them.”

Kragon smiled, “They’re in your fleet. I suspect you can get them here faster than I could.”

Drey laughed, “I think you and I are going to be ok.”

Kragon nodded “Of that, we can only pray.”

Drey looked Kragon in the eye, “I’m different from my ancestor.”

“In what way?”

“He never had much of a sense of humor and very seldom laughed at himself. He was educated by the Nebula Dictator and was only taught to be ruthless. I’ve followed a different path. I recognize that you bring a lot to this dance and I will work with you. However, you should understand that I’m of the belief that any enemy of ours should be eliminated…completely.”

Kragon smiled, “I believe you and I are not that far apart on that particular issue.”

“So, how do you want to handle this?”

“I’m reluctant to take on one of their ships in open space.”

Drey’s eyebrows lowered, “Then where will you do it?

“My staff has done an analysis of the Orange Ship’s dimensions and they insist that it could only carry enough provisions for them to stay on station about forty days. They’re going to have to either leave or find provisions here.”

“You think they’ll attack a planet?”

“Either they’ll attack or they’ll have to be replaced by other ships. I really think they’re efficient in their behaviors and will find their provisions here. When that happens, we’ll go after the ship that breaks ranks and leaves to make the attack.”

“And what if they’re replaced and leave?”

“Then we’ll have no choice but to go after them in open space. If we’re forced to do it that way, the other ships would come to the defense of the one we attack rather quickly.”

“How long have they been on station?”

“Thirty one days; something should happen soon; either way.”

“In the future, will you please tell me when you discover such things?”

“I will; I just didn’t know if you were going to accept the position.”

“You accepted it.”

“I was ordered to do it.”

“Do you think I had a way around accepting it?”

“After the fact, I see you didn’t. And truth be told, I don’t know of anyone else that would be able to pull off what needs to be done.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

“Unlike the Union, we did not mothball our fleets. You have to get a momentum built in your fleets to prepare them for what’s coming. Unfortunately, I believe you’re going to need that reputation of yours to make things happen.”

Drey looked at Angela and she nodded, “You do have your work cut out for you.”

Drey thought for a moment and looked at Kragon, “Tell me what you think about this; I’m going to start combat maneuvers with all of my fleets and find the ones that manage to win. They will be promoted to command positions and start training those under their command.”

Kragon smiled, “I like that idea. You’ll need to make sure they aren’t suicidal.”

“Why?”

Kragon thought for a moment and tilted his head, “Perhaps you’re right. Maybe those wack jobs should be placed in a select unit like Admiral Robinson commanded during the last war. I suspect they’ll prove to be effective taking on difficult assignments.”

“Now that is a good idea. Will you get the two hotshots ready and I’ll start working on finding those we need to command our units?”

“I’ll be glad to do it. I do request that the Kilper be reassigned to my forces; if he survives I’m giving him a fleet.”

“Consider it done. You might want to hold elimination maneuvers with your fleets as well; we could use a few Kilper wack jobs for the select unit.”

“I’m planning to do that very thing.”

Angela smiled and dismissed the two Fleet Admirals. Things looked better than she thought they would.

K
aty banked her needle hard right and flew through the middle of eight ships making turns to attack other needles. She barely missed hitting three needles and the pilot, who had been moving in to take a shot at her from the rear, broke off and went vertical to miss the wildly maneuvering ships in his path. He barely cleared them and suddenly saw the needle he had been pursuing had done a hundred and eighty turn and was coming from directly below him. His computer board turned red and he heard, “You have been eliminated from the competition; please leave the area.” He shook his head; that pilot had to be crazy to have made that decision. He slammed his hand on his panel and hit his jump panel. Of the ten thousand needles fighting in the completion, there were only four hundred remaining.

• • •

Katy took the shot at the pilot that had her dead in his sights and dove to get a bearing on any ships around her. She had gone through high G acclimation and had pushed that training to limits most humans would never approach. She no longer cared about her survival and was indifferent to taking dangerous risks. In another fifteen minutes she had hit another ten needles and she still ignored the warnings issued by her computer, “Kat, you will do what I say; ignore the protocols.”

“Katy, this is crazy; you should have died at least ten times in the last hour.”

“DO IT!!!”

Kat whipped around three needles turning to get a shot off on her and took out two of them with her side blasters. The training beams hit them dead center and they jumped out of the competition’s boundaries. The single ship that wasn’t hit turned away, deciding to take on less dangerous targets, which was a bad decision. Katy’s needle stopped instantly, spun, and fired at him as he moved away. Katy hit the thrusters and accelerated away as three training beams went through the space she just occupied. Now there were only eighty needles remaining and the competition became one-on-one dogfights, with the best of the best taking on each other.

This competition was the last of fifty eliminations and the participants had proven they were the best pilots in the fleet. All ten thousand were going to be given a command; but the final hundred were going to be considered for a Flag. Katy and one other pilot were the last two and neither of them could get the other in a position to take a shot. Finally Katy snarled, “Let’s end this; Kat go vertical.”

“He’ll be able to turn and bring his bow laser to bear if you do.”

“As soon as he turns to line up a shot, turn head on and go to full thrusters.”

“Katy!”

“Don’t make me tell you again, Kat.”

“Going vertical in three, two, one…”

• • •

Katy’s Needle turned vertical and Zack Hutchins smiled. He whipped his ship vertical, cutting the corner on the last opponent and he began to depress his training laser. Suddenly, the other ship turned and came at him head on so fast he had no time to do anything but turn hard left to avoid a collision. The needle blew past him at high speed but managed to hit his ship with a port side blaster. Zack shook his head; he didn’t have time to press the trigger. That maneuver was crazy. Zack shook his head, “But it worked.” Katy found herself the winner of the Union’s Fleet Elimination War Game.

• • •

Katy sat in her command chair and cried. Kat said, “Why did you do this?”

“You know why.”

“If you want to die, you don’t have to kill someone else to do it. What we did in this exercise was ludicrous. You have got to let him go.”

Katy shook her head and continued to weep.

• • •

Jinx and Rags watched the video with the huge Orange Ship in the center of it. It would change colors as various scans appeared imposed over it. “This is a passive scan of the positrons being emitted. As you can see, it appears that ship has four main reactors powering it.”

“Admiral, what about their weapons? Do they have more reactors on board powering them?”

Kragon shook his head, “That’s not something we can determine without an active scan. If I was forced to guess, I would say the weapons have their own reactors.”

Rags looked at Jinx, “What do you see?”

“I only see four missile tubes.”

Kragon nodded in surprise. This Lieutenant saw that with a long view of the imposing ship, “You’re right. Do you know what that means?”

“They have to be launch and forget missiles. I suspect they’ll rapid fire missiles out of each tube and put most of their attention on the blasters.”

Jinx nodded, “I suspect they have them controlled by computers that will count the number of threats and launch the appropriate number of missiles.”